


Deus Autem Nox

by FenyxNyteRyder



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, AmeCan OneWordPrompt Exchange, Blood, Deaths, M/M, Mild Language, Mythology - Freeform, Tumblr, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-17
Updated: 2016-07-17
Packaged: 2018-07-24 12:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7508467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FenyxNyteRyder/pseuds/FenyxNyteRyder
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An attack on his village leaves Alfred running for his life, only to be surrounded by the soldiers that were hunting him down. However, it was all thanks to a certain god that had been watching over him that he managed to survive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Deus Autem Nox

**Author's Note:**

> AU: Gods/Mythology  
> Pairing: AmeCan  
> Prompt: Nighttime/Appreciation  
> Notes: Rated T for mild language, blood, violence, and death.  
> Character Note: name change for Matthew: Mattiyahu: God of Night, Animals, Hunting, Protection, Medicine/Healing

“Stop right there!”

“Hurry it up, or the captain’s going to have our heads!”

“Catch him!”

“Move it, you lazy bastards! He’s getting away!”

It took all of Alfred’s willpower to keep his feet moving. To keep air going in and out of his chest in panting gasps as his sides and muscles burned with exertion. It felt like his heart was about to beat its way out of his chest. His sweat-slicked skin stung from where the branches had whipped at and cut into his flesh while he was running through the forest, pushing through the thickening underbrush. The bottoms of his bare feet were bleeding from where he had stumbled across roots and rocks that were hidden in the darkness of the forest.

However, even with as fast as Alfred was running, it always seemed like the enemy soldiers that were chasing after him were closing in and were on the verge of catching up to him, the blonde swearing whenever he thought that he had seen the glimmer of a torch in the darkness out of the corner of his eyes. It only made him run faster as tears streamed down his face. He couldn’t turn back though. He couldn’t stop running. If they caught him, then it would be the end. If they caught him, he would end up dying. Alfred didn’t want to die.

It had been the middle of the night when the soldiers had first descended upon Alfred’s village, the first screams piercing the air as smoke began to rise from several of the buildings. It had startled the sleeping blonde from his sleep, heart pounding in his chest and covered in a cold sweat. He had heard of the raids happening to other villages from the few survivors that had managed to escape the slaughter and evade imprisonment. Never in Alfred’s mind had he imagined that it would be his own village to be attacked.

Outside of his home, it had been utter chaos. Supplies were being raided, villagers being victimized and slaughtered. The streets were turning red with blood, and Alfred had to fight back the urge to vomit from the stench of urine and excrement and burning bodies that filled the air. The night sky, already so black, had been turned even darker with the smoke that was rising from the blazing buildings. The clanging of swords, of metal on metal, of metal on wood and stone, of metal sinking into flesh and the death screams that echoed in the air… Alfred was sure that they would haunt him for the rest of his life.

His father’s words still echoed in his ears, telling him to run, to save himself and live to see another day. He had said that there wasn’t any shame in running when they were outnumbered in a fight, if it meant that they’d be able to live to fight another day.

Alfred didn’t feel any sort of pride, though, whenever he watched the light leave his father’s eyes as a soldier’s sword plunged itself through his chest, the blonde only able to stare in horror before his feet seemed to move on their own accord when a group of soldiers rounded on him. His throat felt sore, though he couldn’t understand why, until he realized that he had been screaming, but he couldn’t hear it.

As Alfred began to run, he didn’t feel brave, like his father had said. He felt like a coward, guilt and sorrow and anger bubbling in his chest in a toxic mixture. He hated this. He should’ve been able to save them! He should’ve been able to save someone, but he couldn’t even manage that. He had wanted to help them, but now they were gone, and the gods that they had worshiped hadn’t even bothered to try to save them. Weren’t they supposed to help those that were in need? Was all of the praying and building temples and maintaining shrines just a scam? Was it all a pointless waste of time? Alfred hoped not. He desperately hoped that the gods weren’t ones to just abandon them in a time of peril.

His friends. His family. His entire life. It had all been ripped away in a matter of moments because another nation had chosen a path of violence, likely aided by one of the gods of war. Yet all of their gods that the villagers had worshiped were nowhere to be found in their time of need. Were there actually no gods at all? Surely there had to be, right? All of the stories about them couldn’t just be lies. Why couldn’t the soldiers have just left them alone? They hadn’t done anything wrong! None of them had deserved to die. It was so stupid, stupid, stupid–!

Alfred’s breath left him as his foot caught against another protruding tree root, his body plummeting forward and tumbling down the sharp incline to the bottom of the ravine, landing with a splash at the water’s edge. Coughing and wheezing as he attempted to catch his breath, the blonde shakily rose to his feet, holding his side with a grimace of pain as he attempted to put weight on his right foot, only to nearly crumple to the ground mere seconds later.

The blonde cursed softly between clenched teeth as the sounds of his pursuers grew closer and closer to the ravine, the soft glimmering of firelight from their torches illuminating the area and exposing the blonde’s location as he frantically tried to scramble back across the river-slicked rocks, ignoring the aching protest in his muscles. His only thought was to get away, until a screaming pain pierced through his calf that caused Alfred to collapse against the damp ground, a stifled sob slipping from his lips as the clamour of the soldiers drew closer.

This couldn’t be the end. This couldn’t! Even as he forced himself to crawl forward, the small hope that he had been clinging to that he could possibly escape dwindled rapidly with every footfall until he was surrounded. The cold bite of a sword blade pressed against the flesh of his throat, drawing out a wheezing gasp from the wounded blonde, blue eyes wide as a hand roughly grasped into his hair and yanked him up to his knees. Tears burned at the corners of his eyes as he was pushed around the circle of jeering soldiers, his arms weakly covering his head as blow upon blow rained down upon him. Wincing and stumbling to the ground yet again as a fist collided with his jaw, the iron tang of blood pooled in his mouth as he coughed the liquid out onto the ground, his sight growing dim and blurry.

“Aw, look at him, men. Crying like a little baby who needs his momma.”

“Pathetic coward.”

“Come on. Get up and fight like a man, blondie.”

Pressing his palms against the ground, Alfred shakily tried to push himself up off the rocks, only to slip and collapse weakly against the ground once again. It hurt; everything hurt. He couldn’t do this. But he didn’t want to die. He couldn’t let these enemy soldiers have the pleasure of finishing off what they had set out to do. He was just too weak, and they had weapons. What did he have? Nothing. He was completely defenseless. He couldn’t do this. All he could do was pray to the gods above that the end would come quickly and mercifully.

_Alfred… Don’t give up hope…  
_

Alfred blinked slowly, wiping the back of his hand against his mouth to rid it of the blood that stained his lips. Was he dying? What was that voice then?

_Say my name, Alfred… Say my name, and I’ll be there if you need me…_

It was something familiar. Someone familiar. He was sure he’d heard the voice before, but from another time. Another place. Perhaps it was from a dream. Or maybe he was just hallucinating at this point.

A pained groan caught in his throat as another sharp kick cracked against his ribs, his eyes rolling in his head as Alfred lay limply against the ground, barely able to make out the words of the soldiers around him. Barely able to see what they were doing, but he could tell that they were displeased with his lack of reaction, earning a few scoffs.

“Alright, men. Finish him off. Leave the pieces for the wolves.”

Those words cut through the fog in Alfred’s mind, accompanied by the ringing of a steel blade being drawn from its scabbard. Was this truly the end? A tremor coursed down his spine, stifling the choked sob that was threatening to spill from his busted and bleeding lips, the voice that was echoing in his mind becoming more insistent.

_Alfred, please! You have to remember!_

Forcing open his eyelids, Alfred gazed blankly up at the soldier’s smug smirk from where the other was standing above him. Oh gods above, someone help him. There had to be someone out there who could save him. He didn’t want to die. There was a tightness in Alfred’s throat, his lower lip trembling as he watched the man heft the sword over his head, a jolt of fear slamming into his chest and his fingers tightening into the pebbles on the ground around him as a name suddenly ripped itself from his lips.

“Mattiyahu!”

From seemingly out of nowhere, a blazing silver arrow hurtled through the air before embedding itself into the soldier’s forehead whom was standing above Alfred, a look of blank surprise etched into his features. The sword that the man was holding clattered to the ground before the body soon followed, collapsing inches away from the injured blonde that was laying prone on the ground.

That was when the chaos broke out, the remaining soldiers drawing their weapons and standing tensely around, on edge as they waited for the next attack to strike down another one of their own.

And it did.

From the encroaching darkness that surrounded the dimly light area, the light from their torches already fading and flickering down to the faintest of embers, yet another shining silver arrow coursed through the night air and claimed the life of one of the enemy soldiers. It was then that the panic began to settle in upon the armed men, causing them to drop their remaining lights, which sputtered out into nothing on the damp riverbank, as they attempted to make their escape.

The darkness did little to obscure the pained noises of death that echoed through the forest soon after. And then, there was silence.

It was a blissful silence that allowed Alfred to finally roll over onto his back and cover his mouth with his hand, quieting the relieved choked laughter that caused his entire body to tremble before exhaustion finally caught up to him in the lull of action, his pain-numbed mind finally falling into unconsciousness, but not before he caught sight of a pale silver light from the corner of his eye.

* * *

The first sensation that filled Alfred’s subconscious was a sense of warmth and the crackling of a nearby fire. The second was the feeling of long-fingered hands gently rubbing his body, and with it, the slow subsiding of all of the aches and pains from the wounds that had previously harmed him. It was a nice feeling as Alfred twisted around and wrapped his arms around the middle of something somewhat soft, which he assumed to be a pillow in his sleep-laden mind.

Of course it wasn’t until a soft chuckle and fingers threading through his hair made him realize that it was in actuality a person that was holding him, the sudden realization causing his eyes to snap open in shock and attempt to scramble away, grasping around the ground for something that he could possibly use as a weapon to protect himself. That was, until he managed to finally take a good look of whom it was that had been holding him.

“Wow…” The word was a soft whisper that fell from the blonde’s lips, but it couldn’t even begin to describe the man–no, the being that sat before him, a bemused twinkle in his eyes and shoulders that shook with silent laughter.

Clothed in nothing more than thin black and silver gossamer knee-length robes that left very little to the imagination, the man before Alfred was like nothing or nobody that he had ever seen before. His skin was a deep blue that rivaled the colour of the sky after the sun had long since set beyond the horizon, silver speckles of freckles scattered across the exposed expanse of skin of his arms and shoulders and up to his face. A face in which were set a pair of shimmering dark violet eyes streaked through with bright lines of silver. It was a type of silver, which in itself seemed to glow with a gentle light that resembled moonlight or starlight, that matched the streaks that ran through and seemed to visibly undulate in the wavy golden hair upon his head, as though it were alive, or for lack of a better description, as though it were like the auroras that Alfred had heard of in stories from the traveling merchants that hailed from the far north.

This seemed far too surreal for the blonde, and his first instinct was to only assume that he had hit his head far too hard during a fall for him to be able to imagine something–someone, like this. Yet even Alfred knew that he didn’t have such a vivid imagination when it came to imagining people. Least of all people like the male before him.

“Are you…real?” Alfred asked tentatively, reaching out a hand that hovered just above the male’s knee, a deep flush staining his cheeks when the other chuckled and caught his hand in his own, pulling the blonde closer.

“Yes, I am very real, Alfred,” he purred out, batting his eyelashes at the young male and causing Alfred to swallow thickly, laughing shakily as he glanced away. “No need to be shy. You already know who I am, eh?”

Alfred opened his mouth to reply, only to close it once again as he noticed an intricate silver bow leaning against the tree. “You… The soldiers… You were the one that had killed them, weren’t you…Mattiyahu?”

The god hummed softly, running his thumb across the back of Alfred’s hand, a small smile dancing on his lips. “I suppose I was. Do you regret calling for me to help?” he asked softly, staring into Alfred’s eyes.

“Well… N-No, I’m… I’m glad that you saved me. I really…appreciate it, but…” Alfred trailed off with a frown, glancing away for a moment before staring back at the blue-skinned god. “Why didn’t you come help to save my village? Everyone’s dead or captured now. You could’ve done something! So why didn’t you…” His words died on his tongue when he noticed the mournful expression in the god’s eyes.

“If I could’ve, then I would’ve. But even gods have their limitations. People just don’t truly believe in us the way that they used to, and that affects our powers. Some of the lesser known gods are becoming fearful that they may soon end up disappearing, or becoming mortal, if their followers stop believing in them altogether,” Mattiyahu explained with a sad smile, his free hand gently brushing against Alfred’s cheek and tucking a stray lock of blonde hair behind his ear before changing the subject. “How are your wounds? They don’t hurt anywhere, do they?”

Alfred blinked in surprise. In all honesty, he had forgotten about the aches and gashes that had covered his body from his frantic escape away from his village. Briefly patting himself down to try to find any telltale lingering signs of pain, he quickly shook his head, looking up at Mattiyahu with awe. “No, I’m fine. How did you…?”

Mattiyahu chuckled, shaking his head and leaning back against the tree that they were sitting in front of, resting his hand on top of Alfred’s. “It’s one of my powers. I hope you don’t mind too much. I hated to see your pretty face having been beaten black and blue,” he murmured, humming softly as Alfred inched a bit closer to the god.

“If anyone here has a pretty face, it definitely has to be you, my god,” Alfred breathed out, bowing his head and bringing Mattiyahu’s hand up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to his knuckles. “How did you know who I was though? It’s not like I’m exactly anyone special. Just your average village boy. So why did you choose me out of everyone else that you could’ve helped?”

The god shook his head, lips stretched into a sly smirk before morphing into something…gentler and more fond. “I would hardly call you average, Alfred. I’ve been watching you for some time now, ever since you were younger and used to sneak off into the woods in the middle of the night to try to catch the fireflies that you would follow, and I would have to help you get back home before your mother knew that you were missing and could become worried… It feels like only yesterday, but I know for you it must feel like a lifetime ago…” Mattiyahu murmured, blinking slowly as Alfred leaned his head against the god’s shoulder.

“I think I remember that…sort of. It’s hard to really think that far back in time. Things were different back then…” Alfred stated, frowning at the fire before straightening up a bit and glancing over at Mattiyahu. “You know, you did save me, so I feel like I still have to repay you in some way. It would only be fair, right? So is there anything that you need or want? Some kind of…token of appreciation?”

The mortal’s words caused Mattiyahu’s gaze to become distant for a few moments, an arm winding its way around Alfred’s waist and the other gently cupping his cheek. “…What I want, I’m afraid that you may be unable to give, so I’ll settle for a kiss.”

Alfred raised an eyebrow, his hands resting against Mattiyahu’s chest. “Oh? I’m sure I can manage that, and more. I owe you my life, and I’ll spend the rest of my life by your side if that’s what it will take,” Alfred conceded with a grin, eventually drawing out the god’s own grin as he nuzzled against his cheek, before pressing a soft, chaste peck to Mattiyahu’s lips.

“I’m sure that I can live with that arrangement,” the god murmured as soon as the kiss broke. “I can definitely live with that.”


End file.
